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Comment The problem's never been reputation (Score 2) 247

it's been money. I know a few guys who hire comp-sci for gov't jobs and they're always complaining they can't get good candidates while offering 1/3 the pay of private sector. It'd be one thing if it was a stable career path but with our right wing taking a hatchet to anything they don't like it's not even that.

Comment He's just trolling (Score 4, Insightful) 227

it's easy to spot since he calls one of the political party's out by name. There's still some weight to the NIMBY folks though. The trouble with nuclear, at least in America, is that it's damn near impossible to keep it safe. Sooner or later some venture capital firm notices how much money's being spent on safety and moves in with promises of "efficiency", takes over the plant operation and starts cutting back. That's really what the NIMBY crowd worries about, they're just not allowed to talk about it because those same venture capitalists are our ruling class. It's pretty much the same thing that happened in Japan. They knew the plants weren't safe but didn't want to spend the money. Big disaster, lots will die of cancers and the like, but nobody important go in trouble.

Comment Money (Score 1) 353

she's got lots of money. Also, she has connections with other folks who have lots of money. It's not echo chamber. She doesn't need a good record, just enough to bury the past. If you're old enough to remember Regan he didn't have much to run on, but his ad campaigns were _fantastic_. It's morning in America, and everything's just a little bit brighter because you voted for Regan...

Also people like to forget she basically won the California Gubernatorial race until an epic, almost legendary gaff during a debate cost her the election. Gerrymandering + voter suppression + money can get anyone or anything elected in America...

Comment Um.. investors are used to this (Score 1) 365

and there are several such lawsuits going on, they're just a bit smaller scale because this one involved a really, really rich lady. It also made the news during a slow news cycle. Really, it's not that big a deal. Investors don't care. Everywhere's a political minefield. Shit happens.

Comment I'm not so sure (Score 1) 385

I know it's popular to say problems can't/won't be solved, but I really think that's just because it feels nice to think our lives aren't so easily controlled. Sure, it might take a little effort but it's not that hard. We have self driving cars, it wouldn't be hard to make planes with computers that loon balls can't crash. We just haven't bothered yet.

Comment God I wish we'd stop hearing this myth. (Score 2, Insightful) 407

Dumping on people does not make them better. Study after study has shown how fragile children's psychs are and how important positive reinforcement is. But hey, it's a lot more fun to be a dick and crush everyone you see. And if you think of human beings as a resource to be used and without any intrinsic value whatsoever you're way works too. You just have to be willing to grind your populace into dirt for the sake of profit and to buy one more Car Elevator and one more Private Jet. Yeah, I know I'm trolling, but damn if I'm not sick of this culture of disposable human beings.

Comment Um... (Score 4, Insightful) 407

the companies that are hiring electrical engineers either aren't doing it in America or they're importing their labor. EE is a dead end in America because of this. There's also practically no entry level jobs because there's no factories to cut your teeth in. It's kinda hard to compete when other countries can dump their toxic sludge into drinking water. It's not laziness, it's survival instinct. That skill is all but worthless in a country with zero protection for it's native industry and workers.

Comment How so? (Score 1) 536

it's incredibly expensive to deploy that last mile. You need to run cable through and over dozens of people's land. It's cost prohibitive. Yes, there's money to be made, but anyone who has the money to enter the market also has the money to invest in much less risky and more profitable ventures. That's where the monopoly came from in the first place. The gov't steps in to make sure the lines are run (and largely pays for them either directly or indirectly in the form of tax breaks and free services) then hands it all over to a private company in the name of "the incredible efficiency of the free market"... We did it with the railways too. Damn, but we never learn do we?

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